Chagga forts and bolt holes
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Date
1954
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Fosbrooke
Abstract
This article is the third in the series dealing with defensive measures taken by Africans in North-Eastern Tanganyika in pre- German times. The first article, in T.N.R. No. 35, dealt with bolt holes or artificial tunnels and caverns, as found in the North Pare mountains, excavated as shelters in times of tribal raids: it seems probable that the technique originated amongst the Chagga and Methods of construction and use are described below. The second article, in T.N.R. No. 36, dealt with pit dwellings which the Iraqw of Mbulu constructed. In these two articles, the Editor was extremely generous in the number of illustrations which he allowed me to publish, but in this and the concluding article, he has asked me to cut these down to a minimum. Luckily this can be done without detraction from the value of the article as, contrary to the previous subjects, others have written about and illustrated the works now dealt with, particularly Sir Charles Dundas and Bishop Wynn Jones, to whose works reference is recommended.
STONE FORTS
In Chagga history can be traced a development from the time when political power rested in the clan and lineage heads, techni¬cally called a segmentary society, through an intermediary stage when a large number, about twenty-six, petty Chiefs were compet¬ing for ascendancy, to the present position where the tribe is united under one Chief and Council. This last development has only taken * place in the present decade but was anticipated by Dundas (1924) Page 97, who states “There had now nigh a century a constant and fierce contest between two or more powerful Chiefs for supremacy over the whole country. The culminating point was reached in the latter years when Rindi was in the height of his power and the issues narrowed to a rivalry between 'him and Sina of Kibosho. T:iad either of these Chiefs prevailed over the other, or if the rivalry nad continued into succeeding generations, it was almost inevitable that the ultimate outcome would have been the establishment of a supreme head or king over the tribe.”
We must not, however, be misled by the graphic descriptions which have been handed down and recorded, of wars, battles, seiges ?nd intrigue, into equating these moves with similar incidents in the histories of European or Asian countries. The numbers involved were extremely small. In 1948. the Chagga numbered about 230,000 and at the beginning of the British era about half that number, say 120,000. Allowing for this to have doubled likewise in the previous quarter century, this means that on the advent of the Ger¬mans, they must have numbered about 60,000. As these were divided amongst twenty-six Chiefs, this means that each chiefdom must have had, on the average, a little over 2.000 individuals or about 500 adult males. In these circumstances, it will be realised that the relationship between Chief and subject must have been on a much more personal basis than is possible today.
After this digression, inserted in an attempt to get the whole subject into perspective, let us look at the remains of the relics of these wars as are to be found today. The most conspicuous ot these are the stone forts and of these, the largest and best preserved is that at Kibosho. Fig. I show a section of wall surrounded by a trench. The youth in the foreground illustrates the depth and width c,f the trench, whilst the old gentleman standing against the wall reveals the fact that at this point the stone work is nearly 10 ft. high. Other illustrations are to be found in Wynn Jones’s article, T.N.R. No 11, Page 11, in Dundas (1924) Page 96 and Dundas (1932) Page
Description
Available in Print form, East Africana Collection, Dr Wilbert Chagula Library, ( EAF FOS F78.C4)
Keywords
Chagga, Africa people, defensive measures, Tanganyika
Citation
Fosbrooke, Henry A. (1954) Chagga forts and bolt holes